Burning Up
Guy Montag had always burned books. It was the only thing he knew how to do in his average life. Everyone around him expected firemen to burn books, until one day Montag met a young woman named Clarisse. While Montag talked with Clarisse he transformed as a man and decided to make a difference.
In Fahrenheit 451 Guy first met Clarisse on the side of the street while heading home from work. He didn’t have a very good outlook on life because he felt controlled by the government. Clarisse questioned Guy about the role of firefighters in previous generations. Guy thought everything had always been the same as what he had experienced in his life. Firemen burning books and people with boring, lackadaisical lives with no motivation to make a difference were two things Montag witnessed as a firefighter. Clarisse motivated Guy to discover what books had to offer. However, when Clarisse suddenly dies and her family disappears, Guy is torn knowing he will no longer be able to share his perspective with Clarisse.
On a normal night before Montag and his fellow firefighters begin to burn a house down, they ask a woman to leave her house. As a sign of her love and respect for books, the woman stays in her home while the fire rages. Montag wonders what could be so good about books that the woman would burn and die for them. While processing this thought, Guy removes a book from the woman’s house to take back home so he can discover the wonders of its contents. After arriving home, Guy’s wife, Mildred, discovered the book and attempted to throw it into the incinerator. Montag worked up the courage to reveal to his wife that he had many stolen books stored in the attic. Upon discovering this Mildred tries to throw the entire collection of books into the incinerator. Guy is then able to talk his wife out of burning the books and calms her down so they can read the books together. At this moment, Guy realized his life had changed dramatically because of his encounters with Clarisse.
Montag’s development in Fahrenheit 451 reminded me of Luke Garner from Among the Hidden. In Among the Hidden, Luke lives in a world where parents are only allowed two children, but Luke is the third child of his family. He is forced to live inside his home so he is not detected by the government. After thinking he has seen another hidden child in an adjacent home, Luke decides to sneak out of his house. Luke meets the girl he saw hidden, and learns they must help rescue all third children hiding from the government. In the beginning of Among the Hidden, Luke was a scared, modest boy who did not believe his life could impact others. By the end of the book, Luke realizes he must help others and becomes a hero just like Guy.
Guy Montag was a very dynamic character in Fahrenheit 451. He started off as a man who had little motivation and direction, and later realized he had vital things to do with his life. Guy went on and accomplished many tasks he would not have been able to if he hadn’t met Clarisse, and developed throughout the book.
